One of the many great things about the Shazam! movie is its triumphant score by Benjamin Wallfisch.
I’d like to pay particular attention to the main Shazam! theme. Have a listen, if you haven’t (straight The Source itself, Watertower Music):
https://youtu.be/V9uCJjNWo8c
Pretty fantastic, right? This theme is an instant modern classic and can easily stand alongside the titans that are John Williams’ Superman theme, Jerry Goldsmith’s Supergirl theme (say what you will about the movie, but that theme is great), Danny Elfman’s Batman theme and Hans Zimmer’s themes for Superman and Wonder Woman.
There are various segments of the Shazam! theme that instantly take me back to when I was a child and a teen as well, when I thrilled to the musical wonderment of legendary composers John Williams, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman and David Arnold and the Newman family to name but a few. There’s also a section of the main theme that is very remniscent of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s virtuoso score to 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Wallfisch’s theme to me is a wonderful encapsulation of everything that a superhero movie theme should be for a character like Shazam!. There are peaks and valleys, it’s uplifting and thrilling and as soon as it’s over, you absolutely want to listen to it again.
Let’s discuss the wonderful music of Shazam! and how you rank it to other DC movie music.